Hans Schmidt Collection 1897-1998 (1897)
Author: Schmidt, Hans
Year: 1897
Language: German
Call number: 199533
Digitizing sponsor: Leo Baeck Institute Archives
Book contributor: Leo Baeck Institute Archives
Collection: LeoBaeckInstitute; americana
Full catalog record: MARCXML
View EAD
Description
The Hans Schmidt family collection documents the life of Hans Schmidt (originally Goldschmidt), his wife Else Sophie Kahn, daughters Beate and Inge, and both of their parents, Max and Jenny Goldschmidt and Carl and Jenny Kahn. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence between family members. Also included are personal records, such as newspaper clippings, certificates, financial documents, and genealogical material. Series I consists of Hans and Else Schmidt's records and has been divided into three subseries: General, Correspondence, and Miscellaneous. General contains genealogical material and documents from their wedding and honeymoon. Letters sent among the immediate family, other relatives and friends may be found in Correspondence. Miscellaneous includes personal records, financial documents, newspaper clippings and a project that Hans and Else worked on together entitled "Jewish Life in Höchst." Series II is composed of the correspondence of Carl and Jenny Kahn (neé Marx), Else's parents. Personal letters to Else, general correspondence and correspondence concerning their attempted immigration are included. This series also contains Carl Kahn's suicide note from 1942
Correspondence of Max and Jenny Goldschmidt is contained in Series III. These letters consists of general correspondence, letters specifically addressed to Jenny and postcards. Hans Schmidt's correspondence with several immigrant aid organizations and steamship companies are located here as well. Series IV contains the correspondence of Beate (later Beatrice) and Inge, the daughters of Hans and Else. These letters are mainly postcards sent on special occasions, such as birthdays, and from Hans Schmidt after he had left for the United States. A small amount of photographs may be found in series V. Some are housed in the original albums. The majority of the photographs are both unidentified and unlabeled
Hans Schmidt (formerly Goldschmidt) was born on January 20, 1903 in Nieder-Weisel, a small town in Hesse. His parents were Max Goldschmidt and Jenny Goldschmidt (neé Heinemann). Max had been a teacher, a cantor, a ritual slaughterer, and the last president of the Jewish community in Nieder-Weisel. Hans studied medicine and earned his M.D. in 1928. Whether he opened his own practice in Germany is uncertain. He most likely worked in various hospitals, the last being located in Münster, Westphalia. Hans was married to Else Sophie Kahn in Nied (now a part of Frankfurt am Main). Else was born on December 26, 1904 to Dr. Carl and Jenny Kahn. Her father had his own medical practice in Nied and previously worked for the German army during World War I. However in 1937, the Nazis banned him from providing medical services to anyone but Jews. Hans and Else remained in Nied and started a family. Their first daughter Beate (later Beatrice) was born on August 18, 1929 and their second, Inge, was born on August 19, 1932. In June of 1937, Hans immigrated to the United States alone. After traveling through France, England, Panama, Cuba, and New York, he ended up in San Francisco, California. There he lived with a distant relative and completed an internship at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco from 1937 to 1938 and passed a medical examination that allowed him to practice medicine in the United States. Else and their deughters joined him in 1939 with the help of Georg Blumenthal. Hans was able to open his own practice in Chico, California and the Schmidt family remained there for the rest of their lives. Hans died in March 1987, and Else died in March of 1997, both in Chico
While Hans and his family were fortunate enough to immigrate to the United States, their parents were not as lucky. Despite their attempts, Hans and Else were unable to acquire affidavits or steamship tickets from either Hamburg or Lisbon for his parents, Max and Jenny Goldschmidt. Ultimately, both were deported to concentration camps where they perished. Else's father, Carl Kahn, was arrested after being banned from practicing medicine and sent to Buchenwald. He was able to escape, but in 1942 he and his wife were warned of their impending deportation. Carl and Jenny Kahn committed suicide on June 11, 1942
The finding aid for this collection is available online
Selected metadata
| Identifier: | hansschmidt |
| Mediatype: | texts |
| Page-progression: | lr |
| Scanningcenter: | sanfrancisco |
| Ead-container: | true |
| Source: | lbiead |
